6 children currently detained under Sosma, says rights group

 Suaram urges the cops to immediately release the children, a month after the outcry sparked by a similar case involving a teenage girl.

Suaram executive director Azura Nasron urged the home ministry to ensure that no child is arrested or detained under Sosma.

PETALING JAYA:

 Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) claims that at least six children are currently being detained by the police under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

Suaram said Pengkalan Kundor assemblyman Mardhiyyah Johari recently lodged a complaint to the office of the children’s commissioner, claiming that a 17-year-old boy was arrested under Sosma at his home on Feb 15.

Suaram executive director Azura Nasron said it was later discovered that another boy the same age was arrested in Langkawi under similar circumstances.

“Preliminary information provided to the families by the police suggests that at least four other children were also arrested on the same day, bringing the total number of children currently detained under Sosma to at least six.

“As of today, the boys have been held under Sosma for 16 days,” she said in a statement.

Azura urged the cops to immediately release all of the children currently detained under Sosma provisions, and for their families and legal counsel to be given immediate access to them.

‘Suaram demands an unequivocal commitment from the home ministry to ensure that no child is to be arrested or detained under Sosma, with a directive for strict compliance with the Child Act 2001.”

FMT has reached out to the home minister for comment.

In January, FMT reported that a teenage girl was arrested at a roadblock near the Jitra toll plaza after police flagged down the vehicle she was in, alleging that it was being used to smuggle migrants

The girl, along with her father and others in the car, was taken into custody. She was released after more than a week in detention.

The case sparked outrage from various quarters, with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia urging Putrajaya to immediately repeal any Sosma provision that allows the detention of minors without trial.

Chief children’s commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki said the girl’s detention violated Section 84 of the Child Act 2001, which requires that a child be brought before a Court for Children within 24 hours of arrest – a requirement that she said was not met.

Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh also slammed the authorities over the girl’s arrest, saying it was a clear example of Sosma being abused, and repeating calls for the controversial law to be repealed or amended. - FMT